17+ Yiddish in the Framework of OtherJewish Languages 3 Sepharad; here the direct object is yiddish and Ashkenaz, not The Language of the Wuy of the SHaS vis-i-vis Sepharad. We now approach the Way of the SHaS in Ashkenaz, which is sociolinguistic and psychological basis of the yiddish language. C parison with other culrure areas, including Sepharad, *ill iow"be , only the as need arises in the course orpresintation. Zarfat will be d in a bit more, for with respect to curture areazarfatand Loter-Ashken are very close to each other. 3.r Without communal separateness there is no separate language; the rise of Ashkenaz was the precondition for the rise of Yiddish. iSmall groups of immigrants become absorbed after a generation or two the mass of the surrounding population (r. r ), and thereby also lose ,their own language. All told, the Ashkenazim were merely tiny specks ;scattered over large areas of the non-Jewish world. Then how, we must tnquire, has Ashkenaz become more than "Jews in Germany" ? , Up to the eighteenth century this was not called in question, neither the Jews themselves nor among their neighbors. The Jews had lbeen a separate community from time immemorial, and so they were a separate community in the German lands, not merely a sum of :individuals. The first to ponder the historical causes ofJewish indepen- idence were Jewish publicists at the end of the eighteenth century. lHistorians in the capacity of publicists came after them in the first half the nineteenth century with much more weight . Zunz, greatest of the ish scholars of that period, still drank of the waters ofFrench rational- ism, and strong haces of that influence can still be detected also in the German-centered Jewish scholarship (2. r3. r). When the political anations of the French Revolution enabledJews in central Europe to demand emancipation, the constraint to live in separate streets must rhave stood out as the clearest sign of denial of rights. Those demanding ,rights began to use the word ghetto with that emotional coloring which ,it had up to the Hitler period. They formulated the theory heard to this day: In the Middle Ages theJews were locked in the ghetto and ilhus excluded from society at large and its intellectual development;in Ithis forced isolation, both their mode of life in general and their language 'in particular became corrupted. : Graetz maintained (2.28) that the exclusion began with the First 'Crusade. And since up to that period intellectual development among ans was slight, Ashkenazic Jews therefore never had any share in medieval culture of Germany. Other Jewish scholars were of the ,opinion that long ago (up to the thirteenth century, and possibly even ilater) Jews in the German lands had been members of society at large, ,had dressed like the Germans, had spoken German, and had even t76 The Language of the Way of the SHaS The Language of the Way of the SHaS t77 produced-in the beginning of the thirteenth century-a minnesinger 3.I.1 Frcm the thirteenth century on, the condition of Jews in in German, Suesskind von Trimberg; but later they were driven into y begins to deteriorate. New restrictions are enacted concerning the ghe tto and were isolated politically, economically, and linguistically. purchase of property, concerning trade; Jews are forced to don The necessity of grantingJews equal rights was also deduced from a of specific design (theJewish hat, the yellow badge, and so on). quasi-historical comparison with the problem of the ghetto. Le t the newly established mendicant orders, who stressed Christian reli- sun of tolerance arise anew and the Jews will again become Germans i ity and the Christianization of the infidels, helped fan the flames of culture and will differ from their fellow citizens only in religion. toward the Jews. Blood libels were on the increase. Living Perhaps one should not be too severe with those who use historical itions also changed for the worse. Not only did the optional become fictions because of a legitimate politicai aim. But it would be too naive pulsory-hence, from our present point of view, the fact became a toacceptthefictionsofapasttimeashistoricalreality' -but the facts themselves changed. Earlier some Jews had lived In medieval Jewish literature we hear of massacres, expulsion, evil Christians, and conversely sometimes Christians had lived in decrees and false accusations, extortions, and so 9n-[11 can there be Jewish streets. The houses had been essentially the same, of the same found even one author before the eighteenth century who complained' ilding material and the residential area laid out according to the that Jews were "ousted from society"? There is no such author plan; here and there Jews had constructed larger cellars as there cannot be, for up to the period of the Emancipation the Jews ruses. Jewish homes had been conspicuous by the mequqot on the wanted to be by themselves. Compulsory residence areas began in the Later on Jews had to live apart in an area assigned once and for thirteenth century, following the Lateran Council of r2r5;as far back' , and could leave their residential areas only in daytime. The greater as the eleventh century, special Jewish streets have been recorded in Jewish population, the greater the congestion in comparison to the Worms, Mainz, Cologne, Regensburg, Speyer, and other places-and settlement in "the place," and the more difficult it became to it may be safely said that theJews dwelled apart ever since they settled the minimum hygienic requirements. But this does not concern in the cities of Loter. present question; namely, what historical forces created the culture Separate residence (strange as this may appear in the light of present Ashkenaz. Under conditions of spiritual poverty, compulsory resi- Jewish and general conceptions of rights) was part of the privileges together from the thirteenth century on could have brought granted the Jews at their own request. Jews wanted to be a t a spiritual decline, and even in a community that so highly themselves so as to be able to worship collectively, study collectively, spiritual values in spite ofphysical-political reality the conges- have their own rabbinical court-let alone the necessity ol having could have become a handicap and not an asset; at any rate it slaughterhouse and bathhouse and a cemetery of their own. not have been the primary creative factor. GermanJewish architect-historian Pinthus studied the topography of a" It is characteristic that up to the Emancipation the Jews of central hundred medieval towns in Germany and in the countries bordering on' eastern Europe knew absolutely nothing of the Italian word ghetto, it to the east and found that where Jews had appeared early, that is; ther in its derogatory or in its factual sense. The accepted name was when the cities had still been in the process of construction, the Jewish street (in western Yiddish, the Jews' street) and thus to this day Jewish streets were always in the center, near the main church Yiddish expression on the Jewish street means 'among Jews'. Quite market-well located from the economic point of view. Jews were cit uently the expression was simply lhe street, and it was understood to dwellers;Jewish landownership, even when still permissible, played along with mokem (the [non-Jewish] town). Between the two parts minor role; and for occupations in the city-export and import, w city was a partition, but there was also constant communication. sale and retail trade, currency exchange-it was important to be as e must not be deluded by the fact that the Germans in World War II close as possible to the center of the city. Where Jews came to fu the term ghetto for those areas in which they herded the Jews developed cities they settled near the city walls or behind them. G extermination; theJewish residential districts in the Middle Ages settlement-religious, ethnic, social-was common practice in medi places for liuing.) Rabbi Eliezer ben Yoel Halevi (b. f rr4o) cities and even much later; hence the togetherness ofJews was no more y described the situation in the cities of Loter: "We live among than natural. There are established cases where Jews requested a 'Jews, and servants and maids and also Gentile men constantly opportunity of dwelling apart, for thus they could better p into our houses." themselves against attacks. Apartness, but not segregation (in other words, distinctness but not r78 The Language of the Way of the SHaS The Language of the Way of the SHaS r79 separation)-the Ashkenazic reality must be sought between these two We must therefore recognize without hesitation that the Jewish extreme points. This can be attested in beliefs and customs, in legends communal institutions have played a role in bolstering Jewish distinc- and songs, in literary production; examples will come up unexpectedly' tiveness (just as the areal separation contributed its share). But on But the balance between yes and no is perhaps best seen in the social reflection we must conclude that sellgovernment must not be portrayed phenomenon that interests us here directly-the Yiddish language. After as the basis of Jewish existence. Cause and effect should rather be all theJews came to Loter with western Loez and southern Loez speech. conceived of inversely: Jews have established communal institutions But the non-Jewish population in Loter spoke regional variants of because they wanted to preserve themselves as an entity. The factor German, and of this German determinant such a conspicuous part of autonomy should therefore be reduced to the proper proportions. entered into the new language of Ashkenaz. This is proof of a high The autonomous institutions have been supportive ofJewish existence, degree of contact.